ROUND 8: Stranger Things Characters Survivor

Posted March 1Mar 1

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In a twisted turn of fate similar to that of Mike dropping out at #16, Will Byers finishes at #12 alongside his older brother Jonathan Byers at #13. Difficult to understand why two of the main party have finished this low now considering characters like Erica, Holly and Lucas are still in the running. Alas, Will has been central to pretty much everything that's happened in Stranger Things since the show's humble beginnings. The show began with The Vanishing of Will Byers, Will became consumed by the Mind Flayer, he watched his crush Mike develop feelings for and eventually become romantically involved with Eleven all through their friendship, and through all of that trauma he still had the kindest, most thoughtful demeanour and was there for all of his friends until the very end, harnessing his powers as the Sorcerer that he syphoned from Vecna and providing us with one of the most dramatic, jaw-dropping moments from the show that concluded the first volume of season 5.

Will's coming out scene sent the corners of the internet that are always hell-bent on being offended by representation into a complete spiral and became engulfed in a dramatic shift in discourse for the show's final season, but that aside seeing Will finally accepting himself, having the courage to speak to all of those close to him about this, and then finally being so content, comfortable and happy as Stranger Things came to a close was beautiful.

And then onto Jonathan who had quite the journey throughout the show himself. From being seen similarly to Will at the beginning as a bit of an outcast and the target of Steve's high school jock bullying, there was a slow burn that turned Jonathan into the half-hero we were all rooting for and having his own moments to shine before being paired with Nancy as she broke away from the idea of Steve. Although all of this paid off and Jonathan's arc didn't feel underbaked or incomplete by the end, his relationship with Nancy did feel somewhat shunted aside in the show's final season. Despite them having a moment trapped together to realise that this was where they weren't going to get engaged it did feel somewhat jarring with not enough leading up to it to make us understand why a little more.

The results so far:

12. Will Byers

13. Jonathan Byers

14. Eddie Munson

15. Karen Wheeler

16. Mike Wheeler

17. Murray Bauman

18. Bob Newby

19. Martin Brenner

20. Jim Hopper

21. Sam Owens

22. Derek Turnbow

23. Argyle

24. Billy Hargrove

25. Dr. Kay

In Round 8, vote for your LEAST FAVOURITE character from Stranger Things.

Round 8 will be another DOUBLE ELIMINATION. Feel free to comment along the way too with thoughts on each character as you vote or as they are eliminated.